Ibrahimovic has many nicknames… among the self-explanatory “Ibrahimagic” and “Ibracadabra”, even “Zlatan!” seems like something a magician would say before he pulled a rabbit out of a top hat (kinda like “Shazam!”). Inter first goal vs. Bologna Saturday night, illustrates just how appropriate the Ibrahimovic-Magic association can be: a marvelous mid-air backheel execution that few players would attempt, and that even fewer would get right. Until tonight, the last one among the elected greats was a certain Roberto Mancini…

More important than Ibra’s magic, was the way Inter played on Saturday. To quote Gazzetta, “Inter are back winning and winning convincingly.” The final 2-1 result over Bologna wasn’t a true reflection of how well Inter played, certainly improving on their recent bleak peformances against AC Milan and Werder Bremen.

(From Gazzetta dello Sport): Oh surprise among Inter ranks: for this match, Jose Mourinho abandoned his favorite 4-3-3 and christened a two-striker formation: Adriano and Ibrahimovic, with Mancini and Quaresma playing on opposite wings. With Rivas in defence alongside Córdoba, and Muntari + Vieira in central midfield, Cambiasso (benched) was the biggest exclusion of the night. On the other end, Daniele Arrigoni also changed his Bologna formation: while Marchini and Adailton pushed down the right wing, Marco Di Vaio was chosen as the lone striker.

The Nerazzurri took immediate control of the game, with Mancini and Quaresma alternating their positions often and Adriano and Ibrahimovic working in tandem, ranging far and wide over the whole attacking area. Bologna was glimpsed only at the beginning with a beautiful long-distance effort by Sergio Volpi, but after that Arrigoni’s team got bogged down fending off Inter’s incursions, increasingly insistent particularly on the wings. And what do you know? It was precisely from the outer wing the Nerazzurri took their first lead: Adriano crossed in the ball from the left, and anticipating Terzi’s defensive dive with lightening speed was Ibrahimovic, deflecting the ball into the net with a fantastic heelkick in mid-air. San Siro fans were delirious, 1-0 Inter.

After the match opener, the Nerazzurri unsuccessfully tried to seal the victory before the break, the last 7 minutes of the half essentially consisting of an all-out assault on Antonioli’s posts. The Bologna keeper managed to resist however, launching himself head first in front of every cross aimed toward the 6-yard box. In the second period however, the Bologna nº1 could do little when Inter were awarded a penalty kick for a Volpi handball inside the box (following a Mancini cross). Adriano stepped up on the 12-yard spot to double the Nerazzurri’s lead, and score his first goal of this year’s Serie A campaign. 2-0 Inter.

Inter looked for its third goal and continued to attack, but unexpectedly it was Bologna who found themselves celebrating. 56 minutes in, an astonishing misunderstanding between J.Zanetti and Cordoba gifted the ball to Vaggelis Moras, who a couple of steps away from the net gratefully accepted the offer to reduce Inter’s lead. 2-1.

The goal revitalised the Rossoblu, but Inter were quickly able to regain their balance and return in control of the game. Bad luck however seems to be persecuting Mourinho’s back-line, because in the 70^th minute Nelson Rivas was forced off due to a knee injury: with Burdisso and Materazzi suspended, José decided to return to a 4-3-3 formation and moved Esteban Cambiasso in alongside Cordoba, while Dejan Stankovic came on for Mancini in order to strengthen the midfield. In the meantime Arrigoni had rejigged his own team, putting Massimo Marazzina alongside Di Vaio and sending Zenoni + Coelho on the right wing.

Inter slowed the pace and retreated back, leaving the initiative to their Bologna opponents. The Rossoblu however, despite being more enterprising in attack, left ample space for the Nerazzurri to counterattack. Right in the last minute, Ibrahimovic found himself all alone in front of Antonioli but wasted the shot which would have taken Inter to 3-1. A chance probably a thousand times easier than his first-half backheel shot, but like all high-class merchants, Zlatan only deals in the spectacular.

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	INTER-BOLOGNA 2-1 [Match Highlights]
GOALSCORERS: 25’ Ibrahimovic (I), 50’ pen. Adriano (I), 56’ Moras (B).
INTER (4-2-3-1): Julio Cesar – Maicon, Rivas (73’ Cambiasso), Córdoba, J.Zanetti – Mancini (74’ Stankovic), Vieira, Muntari, Quaresma (88’ Obinna) – Adriano, Ibrahimovic. (bench: Toldo, Samuel, Bolzoni, Cruz). Coach: Mourinho.
BOLOGNA (4-2-3-1): Antonioli – Marchini (79’ Coelho), Moras, Terzi, Bombardini – Mudingayi, Volpi (64’ Marazzina) – Adailton (64’ C.Zenoni), C.Amoroso, Valiani – Di Vaio. (bench: Colombo, Britos, Mingazzini, Lanna). Coach: Arrigoni.

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Tags: Adriano, Bologna, Daniele Arrigoni, Inter, José Mourinho, Serie A, Vaggelis Moras, Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Posted in Bologna, Inter, Serie A |

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